The Great Pretenders

By definition, a pretender is a person who lays claim to something – specifically: a claimant to a throne who is held to have no just title. (source: Merriam-Webster.com)

In the case of former ruling houses and monarchies, this is typically the person who would be the ruling monarch today, following the defined line of succession, if the monarchy was still in existence. For many of the majority of former monarchies, the line of succession is very clear and there exists just one current pretender. However, several involve disputes from various branches of the families, resulting in multiple claimants to the former thrones.

This area of Unofficial Royalty will include articles about the current, and former, pretenders to the various thrones, and try to best explain the disputes and multiple claims where they exist.

NOTE: Traditionally, former sovereigns continue to use their royal title, but their heirs do not assume a new title upon succeeding them.  There is only one instance of a pretender taking on a higher title.  Upon the death of King Zog of the Albanians in 1961, his son, Crown Prince Leka, was declared King by the government in exile at the time.  However, the monarchy had been abolished 15 years earlier and this declaration held no legal validity.  So while many referred to him as King Leka I, he was never actually a reigning sovereign.

Links attached to the names of the monarchies go to the Unofficial Royalty index for that monarchy.

KINGDOM OF ALBANIA

AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE

  • LAST REIGNING: Karl I, Emperor of Austria (reigned 1916 – 1918, pretender 1918 – 1922)
  • Former: Otto von Habsburg (pretender 1922 – 2011)
  • Current: Karl von Habsburg (pretender 2011 – present)
  • Current Heir: Ferdinand Habsburg (born 1997)

TSARDOM OF BULGARIA

  • LAST REIGNING: Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria (reigned 1943 – 1946, pretender 1946 – present)
  • Current Heir: Boris, Prince of Tarnovo (born 1997)

KINGDOM OF FRANCE/FRENCH EMPIRE

Orléanist

  • LAST REIGNING: Louis Philippe I, King of the French (reigned 1830 – 1848, pretender 1848 – 1850)
  • Former: Philippe, Count of Paris (pretender 1st time 1850 – 1873)
  • Former: Henri, Count of Chambord (pretender 1873 – 1883)
  • Former: Philippe, Count of Paris (pretender 2nd time 1883 – 1894)
  • Former: Philippe, Duke of Orléans (pretender 1894 – 1926)
  • Former: Jean, Duke of Guise (pretender 1926 – 1940)
  • Former: Prince Henri of Orléans, Count of Paris (pretender 1940 – 1999)
  • Former: Prince Henri of Orléans, Count of Paris (pretender 1999 – 2019)
  • Current: Prince Jean, Count of Paris (pretender 2019 – present)
  • Current Heir: Prince Gaston of Orléans (born 2009)

Legitimist

  • LAST REIGNING: King Louis XVI of France (reigned 1774 – 1792)
  • Former: Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France (Louis XVII) (pretender 1793 – 1795)
  • Former: Louis XVIII, King of France (reigned 1795 – 1824)
  • Former: Charles X, King of France (pretender 1824 – 1836)
  • Former: Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême (pretender 1836 – 1844)
  • Former: Henri, Count of Chambord (pretender 1844 – 1883)
  • Former: Juan de Borbón, Count of Montizón (pretender 1883 – 1887)
  • Former: Carlos, Duke of Madrid (pretender 1887 – 1909)
  • Former: Jaime, Duke of Madrid (pretender 1909 – 1931)
  • Former: Alfonso Carlos of Bourbon, Duke of San Jaime (pretender 1931 – 1936)
  • Former: King Alfonso XIII of Spain (pretender 1936 – 1941)
  • Former: Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia (pretender 1941 – 1975)
  • Former: Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz (pretender 1975 – 1989)
  • Current: Prince Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou (pretender 1989 – present)
  • Current Heir: Prince Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Burgundy (born 2010)

Bonapartist

  • LAST REIGNING: Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (1st reign 1804 – 1814, 2nd reign March 1815 – June 1815)
  • Former: Louis-Napoleon, Prince Imperial, Count of Pierrefonds (pretender 1873 – 1879)
  • Former: Victor, Prince Napoleon (pretender 1879 – 1926)
  • Former: Louis, Prince Napoleon (pretender 1926 – 1997)
  • Current: Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoleon (1997 – present), disputed with his father
  • Current: Charles, Prince Napoleon (1997 – present), disputed with his son
  • Current Heir: Prince Louis Napoleon (son of Jean-Christophe, born 2022)

GERMANY

Kingdom of Bavaria

Kingdom of Hanover

Kingdom of Prussia

Kingdom of Saxony

Kingdom of Württemberg

Grand Duchy of Baden

Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine

Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Merged with Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 2001 now known as Mecklenburg

Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Merged with Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 2001 now known as Mecklenburg

  • LAST REIGNING: Adolf Friedrich VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (reigned 1914 – 1918)
  • Former: Carl Michael, Duke of Mecklenburg (pretender 1918 – 1934)
  • Former: Georg, Duke of Mecklenburg (pretender 1934 – 1963)
  • Former: Georg Alexander of Mecklenburg (pretender 1963 – 1996)
  • Current: Current: Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg (pretender 1996 – present)
  • Current Heir: Duke Alexander of Mecklenburg (born 1991)

Grand Duchy of Oldenburg

  • LAST REIGNING: Friedrich August II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg (reigned 1900 – 1918, pretender 1918 – 1931)
  • Former: Nikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg (pretender 1931 – 1970)
  • Former: Anton Günther, Duke of Oldenburg (pretender 1970 – 2014)
  • Current: Christian, Duke of Oldenburg (pretender 2014 – present)
  • Current Heir: Duke Alexander of Oldenburg (born 1990)

Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

  • LAST REIGNING: Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (reigned 1901 – 1918, pretender 1918 – 1923)
  • Former: Karl August, Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (pretender 1923 – 1988)
  • Current; Michael, Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (pretender 1988 – present)
  • Current Heir: Prince Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (born 1946, Michael’s first cousin)

Duchy of Anhalt

  • LAST REIGNING: Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt, reigned September 1918 – November 1918, pretender 1918 – 1947)
  • Former: Friedrich, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt (pretender 1947 – 1963)
  • Current: Eduard, Prince of Anhalt (pretender 1963 – present)
  • Current Heir: Princess Julia Katharina of Anhalt (born 1980)

Duchy of Brunswick

Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg

Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen

  • LAST REIGNING: Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (reigned 1914 –  1918, pretender 1918 – 1928)
  • Former: Ernst, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (pretender 1928 – 1941)
  • Former: Georg, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1941 – 1946)
  • Former: Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1946 – 1984)
  • Current: Konrad, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1984 – present)
  • Current Heir:

Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein

*mediatize – to annex a state (usually a monarchy) to another state (usually another monarchy), while allowing certain rights to its former sovereign and heirs

Principality of Lippe

  • LAST REIGNING: Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe (reigned 1905 – 1918, pretender 1918 – 1949)
  • Former: Armin, Prince of Lippe (pretender 1949 – 2015)
  • Current: Stephan, Prince of Lippe (pretender 2015 – present)
  • Current Heir: Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Lippe (born 1995)

Principality of Reuss – Elder Line (Greiz)

Note: All males of the House of Reuss were named Heinrich plus a number. In the Reuss-Greiz (Elder Line), the numbering covered all male children and the numbers increased until 100 was reached and then started again at 1. In the Reuss-Gera (Younger Line), the system was similar but the numbers increased until the end of the century before starting again at 1. This tradition was seen as a way of honoring Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich VI (reigned 1191 – 1197) who had benefitted the family. Therefore, the Roman numerals seen after names are NOT regnal numbers.

Principality of Reuss – Junior Line (Gera)

Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe

Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

  • LAST REIGNING: Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg (reigned 1890 – 1918, pretender 1918 – 1925)
  • Former: Sizzo, Prince of Schwarzburg (pretender 1925 – 1926)
  • Former: Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg (pretender 1926 – 1971 – The male line of the House of Schwarzburg became extinct.)

Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausern

  • LAST REIGNING: Karl Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (reigned 1880 – 1909)
    • Upon Karl Günther’s death, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen passed to the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, reuniting the two branches as simply Schwarzburg

Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont

KINGDOM OF GREECE

ITALY

Kingdom of Italy

Also pretenders to the Kingdom of Sardinia.

  • LAST REIGNING: King Umberto II of Italy (reigned May 1946 – June 1946, pretender 1946 – 1983)
  • Former: Prince Vittorio Emanuele of Savoy, Prince of Naples (pretender, disputed 1983 – 2024)
  • Current: Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice (pretender, disputed 2014 – present)
  • Current Heir: Princess Vittoria of Savoy (born 2003, disputed)
  • Former: Prince Amedeo of Savoy-Aosta, 5th Duke of Aosta (pretender, disputed 1983 – 2021)
  • Current: Prince Aimoneof Savoy-Aosta, 6th Duke of Aosta (pretender, disputed 2021 – present)

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

Senior (Calabrian) Line (Disputed)

  • Former: Prince Alfonso of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria (pretender 1960 – 1964)
  • Former: Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, Duke of Calabria (pretender 1964 – 2015)
  • Current: Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria (pretender 2015 – present)
  • Current Heir: Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (born 1992)

Junior (Castrian) Line (Disputed)

Grand Duchy of Tuscany

Duchy of Modena and Reggio

Duchy of Parma

KINGDOM OF PORTUGAL

  • LAST REIGNING MONARCH: King Manuel II of Portugal (reigned 1908 – 1910, pretender 1910 – 1932)
    • After the childless King Manuel II’s death in 1932, the Portuguese National Assembly authorized the return of the banned branch of the Braganzas, the Miguelist line, the deposed King Miguel I’s descendants. However, Portugal has remained a republic since 1910.

Miguelist Line

  • Last Reigning: King Miguel I of Portugal (reigned 1828 – 1834, pretender 1834 – 1866)
  • Former: Prince Miguel, Duke of Braganza (pretender 1866 -1920)
  • Former: Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza (pretender 1920 – 1976)
  • Current: Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza (pretender 1976 – present)
  • Current Heir: Portugal: Afonso, Prince of Beira (born 1996)

KINGDOM OF ROMANIA

RUSSIAN EMPIRE

The succession to the former Russian throne has been in dispute, mainly due to disagreements over the validity of marriages. In 1924, after Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich (son of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia and brother of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia) was declared legally dead, Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, a male-line grandson of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, declared himself Guardian of the Throne and later assumed the title Emperor of All Russia. In 1938, upon the death of Kirill Vladimirovich, his son Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich assumed the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia.

Vladimir Kirillovich’s only child, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna (born 1953), claims to have succeeded her father upon his death in 1992. Her claim to the Headship of the Imperial Family of Russia is based on a claim that all male lines of the Romanov family are either extinct, illegitimate, or morganatic, triggering semi-salic succession, and that she is the closest female to the last dynast. Maria Vladimirovna’s claim was disputed by the Romanov Family Association, a private organization of living male-line descendants of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia (except Maria Vladimirovna and her son).

Pre-revolutionary Romanov house law allowed only those born of an equal marriage between a Romanov dynast and a member of a royal or sovereign house to be in the line of succession to the Russian throne. The throne could only pass to a female and through the female line upon the extinction of all legitimately-born, male dynasts. Maria Vladimiovna’s mother Princess Leonida of Bagration belonged to a family that had been kings in Georgia from medieval times until the early 19th century. However, no male line ancestor of Leonida had reigned as a king in Georgia since 1505 and her branch of the Bagrations, the House of Mukhrani, had been naturalized as non-ruling nobility of Russia after Georgia was annexed to the Russian empire in 1801. There is a precedent that a marriage between the House of Romanov and the House of Bragation-Mukhrani was unequal. The House of Bragation-Mukhrani did not possess sovereign status and was not recognized as an equal marriage by Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia for the purpose of dynastic marriages at the time of the marriage of Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna of Russia and Prince Konstantine Bragation-Mukhrani in 1911, thirty-seven years before the marriage of Princess Leonida of Bragation-Mukhrani and Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia. The couple married but Princess Tatiana Konstantinovna was required to renounce her rights to the Russian throne and she was no longer a member of the House of Romanov because the marriage was unequal.

After the death of Vladimir Kirillovich in 1992, Prince Nicholas Romanov claimed that he was the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia. Except for Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, who said that the marriage of Nicholas’ parents was not in conformity with the house laws, Nicholas was recognized by the rest of the family as head of the Romanov family. However, Maria Vladimirovna seems to be more accepted by European royalty and she is sometimes invited to royal events. She attended the 2023 funeral of former King Constantine II of Greece.

Descendants of Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia, eldest son of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. Note: The legitimate male line of Alexander III died out with Nicholas II and his brothers Grand Duke George Alexandrovich and Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich.

  • LAST REIGNING: Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia (reigned 1894 – abdicated 1917, executed 1918)
  • Former: Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich (younger brother of Nicholas II, executed 1918)
    • In March 1917, when Nicholas II abdicated the Russian throne for himself and his hemophiliac only son, his brother Michael was proclaimed Emperor Michael II  but Michael stated that he took “the firm decision to assume the supreme power only if and when our great people, having elected by universal suffrage a Constituent Assembly to determine the form of government and lay down the fundamental law of the new Russian State, invest me with such power.” Of course, this never happened.

Descendants of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia via his second son Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia

  • Former: Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, grandson of Alexander II, (pretender, 1924 – 1938)
  • Former: Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich, son of Kirill Vladimirovich, (pretender, 1938 – 1992)
  • Current: Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, daughter of Vladimir Kirillovich, (disputed pretender, 1992 – present)
  • Current Heir: Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, also known as Prince George of Prussia through his father, son of Maria Vladimirovna (disputed heir, born 1981)
  • Current: Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen, also known by his Orthodox Russian name Nikolai Kirillovich Romanov, great-great-grandson of Alexander II, great-grandson of Kirill Vladimirovich, (disputed pretender, 2013 – present)
    • Line of Karl Emich from Alexander II: Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia → Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia → Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia → Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia → Emich, 7th Prince of Leiningen  → Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen
  • Current Heir: Andreas, 8th Prince of Leiningen, brother of Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen (disputed heir, born 1955, the claim will pass to Andreas and his descendants born of equal marriages upon the death of Karl Emich, and on the condition that they convert to Russian Orthodoxy, there is no indication that Andreas is interested in this claim)

Descendants of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia

  • Former: Prince Nicholas Romanov, great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia (disputed pretender 1992 – 2014)
    • Line of Nicholas and his brother Dmitri from Nicholas I: Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia → Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia → Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia → Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia → brothers Prince Nicholas Romanov and Prince Dmitri Romanov
  • Former: Prince Dmitri Romanov, great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia and brother of Prince Nicholas Romanov, (disputed pretender, 2014 – 2016)
  • Former: Prince Andrew Romanoff, great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia, (disputed pretender, 2016 – 2021, Andrew dropped his royal style and title when he came to the United States in 1949, calling himself Andrew Romanoff)
    • Line of Andrew and his sons Alexis and Peter from Nicholas I: Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia → Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia → Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia → Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia → born Prince Andrew Andreievich of Russia  → Prince Alexis Romanoff and Prince Peter Romanoff
  • Current: Prince Alexis Romanoff, great-great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia and son of Prince Andrew Romanov from his first marriage (born 1953, disputed pretender 2021 – present, does not use the title Prince)
  • Current Heir: Prince Peter Romanoff great-great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia and son of Prince Andrew Romanoff from his second marriage (born 1961, disputed heir, does not use the title Prince)

KINGDOM OF SERBIA/YUGOSLAVIA

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